Mahou Kessen Dohyou
by Ray Venn Hakubi
Summary: Eight years ago, Nanoha and Fate vanished. Nanoha re-appeared three days later with no memory of what had happened. Now, eight years on, RF6 faces an overpowering enemy. The only key to survival lives in the mysteries of the past.
1. Prologue: Aoi no Senritsu

Disclaimer: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowell Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

* * *

"Will you become it..?" The speaker was a blue-haired girl, a couple of years older than Fate. She carried a fan-bladed staff loosely in one hand. She was clad in a black bodysuit, similar to Fate's Sonic Form, but small, pink wings fluttered at her shoulders and she wore a flared half-skirt that reached her ankles. A red ribbon held her shoulder-length hair back, and a chunky broken halo held a large, red gem immobile in front of her forehead.

"I can't." Fate shook her head, gripping Bardiche more tightly. "There is someone I have to be with... your destiny isn't one I can accept."

"There is no other way." The winged girl insisted. "If you do not accept peacefully, I will be forced to subdue you." She raised her staff to the purple, lightning-clouded sky.

"And if I defeat you?" Fate asked, lifting Bardiche Assault tiredly. Already, her twelve-year-old body had been badly taxed by the battles so far.

"Then there is no choice. I will take your place, and you will become the chooser."

"So... I understand." Fate brought her weapon up. "There must be another way. I will defeat you, and find that other path..." She reached for her magic, dashing forward and preparing to end it...

* * *

"Damn it!" Takamachi Nanoha, age twenty, gasped as she struggled to get her breathing under control. "This is endless..." She cursed, gathering power again as the next wave of Gadget Drone Type IIs approached. "Divine..."

"... Buster." Raising Heart replied, firing off a sustained beam that Nanoha swept across the formation.

"Nanoha-taisa. Navy support will be with you in five minutes, you just have to hold out until then!" Shario Finieno told her over the link from Long Arch.

"Status update, general overview." Nanoha requested even as she mentally commanded for Axel Shooter Shielded.

"Stars two and Stars three are engaging combat cyborgs below ground. Cloud One and Cloud two are engaged with a unison knight in the entrance hall. The Ground Defence Force mages are pinned down by two more combat cyborgs. Long Arch One is still trapped inside the barrier."

"Those blasted bureaucrats!" Nanoha cursed. "Can't they see this is an emergency? To carry on with the meeting in these circumstances..."

"General Geis believes your defence to be enough." Shario told her. "One moment..." She connection cut off, and Nanoha was able to turn her full attention to the battle, blasting several Drones that had been attempting a flank attack out of the sky.

"Taisa, this is Long Arch! We're under attack! Repeat, Mobile Division Six HQ is under attack by a Summoner and two... no, three combat cyborgs and at least thirty drones!" Griffith's voice broke her concentration. "They already took out the armoury... I'm ordering the evacuation!"

"Griffith-kun?" Nanoha yelped. "The lockdown code, use it! Shut the base down... We're completely pinned down!"

"It's too late..." It took Nanoha a moment to realise what was happening, then she noticed that the speaker was there with her. She wore glasses and had her brown hair in two big tails... a combat cyborg...

"Quattro!" Nanoha swore. "What's the meaning of this?"

"To think we'd care about this foolish meeting." The illusionist smirked. "Goodnight... Riot Force Six." The cyborg's snake-like smile was the last thing to vanish.

"Signum!" Nanoha contacted the other mage.

"I'm busy." Signum replied, and the sounds of fighting came over the link. "There is a Knight here. He's fighting Vita and Rein, but I can't get there."

"Damn it. There aren't _enough_ of us!" Nanoha cursed. "If Fate was here..."

"There's no point wishing." Signum replied. "If she hasn't been found in eight years... there's not a chance she'll re-appear now."

"I know." Nanoha sighed. "No... I can't give up. Signum, you are in command. I'm returning to Headquarters. They're under attack."

"Ah. I understand. I will be at your location in two minutes."

"The Navy will support you." Nanoha told her. "I'll leave a barrier." She finished, and started casting.

"Wide-area Protection Plus." Raising Heart acknowledged, burning two cartridges. Rather than falling to the ground, however, the spent shells hovered in midair, acting as anchors for the barrier spell as Nanoha focussed.

"Raising Heart, RIOT Mode." She commanded, and the Device changed along with her armour. The outer two layers of heavy armour were dispelled and reabsorbed as the inner light armour altered, becoming a body-hugging white leotard and thigh-high stockings. Pink wings spread from her shoulders and ankles. Raising Heart's form altered, becoming much more streamlined and activating the Strike Flame blade.

"Mode set." Raising heart confirmed. "Rapid Interdiction Occluded Targeting."

Nanoha span the spear once, until it was lifted above her head, then aimed it forward. "Accel!" She commanded, and the vents at the back of the spearhead opened.

"Flight." Raising Heart completed, and the vents fired as rockets, sending Nanoha careening through the regrouping drones and throwing them tumbling away with the sonic boom.

The scene when she arrived at HQ was one of devastation. Even at those speeds, it had taken her fifteen minutes to arrive. As she watched, the residential wing collapsed into the ground in a cloud of smoke and flames. Nanoha felt a tearing pang of loss – the evacuation point had been there. Worse, of the Long Arch control centre there was nothing left but a smoking crater.

She was too late... everyone was dead. Surely...

"No..." She whispered, despairing. "Shamal... Griffith..." Her eyes widened. "Vivio!"

"Master," Raising Heart spoke up.

"Is everyone..?" Nanoha asked, hesitantly.

"Master, I have detected survivors under the library. However, they are in an unstable area supported only by binding magic."

"Binding..? Shamal?" Nanoha asked, half-hopeful.

"No, the pattern matches Yuuno Scryah, my master." Raising Heart replied.

"Y-yuuno? He was here..?" Nanoha gasped. "We have to rescue them, then..."

"Summoning magic detected." Raising Heart interjected again. "Power Suppression detected. Three hundred meters east and receding."

"Summoning..? That girl?" Nanoha asked.

"Confirmed: Signature is compliant with previous scans." Raising Heart displayed an image of the purple-haired summoner who had attacked at the auction and again in the sewers. In both cases, she'd escaped with the Relic she'd sought.

"Scan. What was she after?" Nanoha frowned.

"Life-force detected: Summoner. Two Combat Cyborgs. One Unidentified Summon. Vivio Takamachi. Power Detected:"

"That's enough..." Nanoha murmured. "Vivio..."

"The binding below will collapse in estimated five minutes." Raising Heart's words brought her down to earth. She could choose... Vivio... or Yuuno, and the Riot Force Six survivors.

"Raising Heart. Trace Magic. Target: Vivio Takamachi. The purple-haired summoner of insects." She decided.

"Long-range Trace. Yes, my Master." Raising Heart fired a cartridge, and Nanoha channelled it back through the Device to lay the dual tracking spells.

"Check integrity. Lets rescue those people." Nanoha completed her choice, aiming her Device at what was left of the library.

* * *

A/N: So, I know, another story... but it's been eating at me for days, so please forgive me.

The main part of the story (outside the prologue) takes place at the end of StikerS Episode 16. I'd originally planned to start the story later than that, but upon reviewing the episodes this seemed most logical.


	2. Chapter 1: Kore wa atarashi no sekai?

**Disclaimer:** Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowell Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

* * *

**Chapter 1 – This is another world..?**

"I'm glad you could make it." Hayate smiled at Nanoha, though it was a tired, slightly bitter smile. Looking around the room, the reason for the bitterness was obvious.

Of the entire division, this was all that were still operable. Signum and Vita – Cloud one and two. Hayate, Long Arch one. Teana, Stars Two. Shario Finieno, Long Arch five. Alto, Long Arch eight. Griffith, Long Arch Two. Pai'na, Stars Four.

Stars Three and Five, Cloud Three and Four, Long Arch one A. Long Arch seven – Subaru, Morgan, Shamal, Zafira, Rein, and Vice, all hospitalised. Everyone else was dead. If Yuuno hadn't decided to visit Vivio that day, the list would be even shorter.

Vivio – missing. Taken by the purple-haired summoner.

"I've found them. The trace spell expired this morning." Nanoha explained, sitting down with a sigh of exhaustion. "They have a base in an underground complex in the mountains at the edge of the Belkan self-administered region. It's protected by a major AMF."

"Even if we call in Acous and the Church... the Bureau have cut off out ground forces and naval support." Hayate admitted. "They claim that they're needed to protect higher-priority targets."

"Covering their arses again." Vita snorted. "Useless paper-pushers. They'd leave us to burn in hell if they thought someone might smudge their uniforms."

"Vita, mind your language." Hayate scolded. "What's your analysis of the tactical situation?" She asked Nanoha directly.

"It's bad." She ran a hand through her hair, pulling the elastic free and worrying it in her fingers. She'd stopped wearing ribbons a year after Fate's disappearance. They were just too painful. "At least thirteen combat cyborgs, a probably infinite number of Drones, that summoner, and the Unison Knight."

"Zest and Agito." Signum supplied.

"Ah, them." Nanoha nodded. "Plus whatever secrets Scaglietti has hidden away up there."

"So... we've lost?" Griffith asked, quietly.

"No." Shario spoke up, smiling slightly. "There... is a possible solution, but..."

"What is it?" Hayate looked at her.

"Something Nanoha-chan said." Shari nodded at the ace. "If Fate was here..."

"Fate? Stop chasing dreams." Vita snorted. "She's gone. Aint no way we can find her now."

"That's not true." Shari told them. "I was planning to tell everyone after the meeting, but then this happened. But give me two days and a workshop... It took me five years, but I finally isolated the point where Fate disappeared. If we can change that one event..."

"She might be here. Wouldn't that be called changing the timeline?" Nanoha asked, frowning.

"Yes." Shari nodded. "It's a risk... but it might be possible to change this destiny we've found ourselves in. We could bring Fate back... or more likely, alter history so that she did not disappear."

"But if that happened, then wouldn't we also..?" Teana asked.

"Vanish." Shari nodded. "We might not ever meet, but surely... with the second Ace back, Scaglietti's plans would be altered enough that the Bureau would be able to defeat him. That has to be a happier destiny than the one we've become trapped in."

"I'll do it." Nanoha interrupted. "Shari. I'll talk to Yuuno, and you can build your device." She stood. "I'll go back and change the timeline."

"Nanoha-chan..." Hayate watched her. "Even though..?"

"A life with Fate... even if we still died now... wouldn't that be enough?" The Ace of Aces met Hayate's troubled gaze with her own suffering eyes. "Even if it was just one more minute..."

"A-ah..." Hayate looked away first. "Then... as the commander of Mobile Division Riot Force Six... I authorise this action. Shari, Nanoha..." She paused. "Good luck."

"Ah. You too." Nanoha nodded, and Shari stood to leave with her.

"Wait! I'm going too." Vita stood, defiantly.

"No." Nanoha looked back at her. "Protect Hayate... in case we fail." She told the hammer knight. '_Protect her well... And... I'm sorry. For everything._' She finished the sentence telepathically.

'_I know. I'm sorry, too. Don't forget... if you can't save Fate... I'm waiting, you got it? Don't you dare die, Takamachi Nan-to-ka._' Vita replied, her mental tone a little harsh. Nanoha simply nodded, and the two women left the meeting.

"What was that Vita said at the end?" Shari asked as they walked away down the corridor at main HQ.

"Nothing." Nanoha shook her head. "Just the normal Vita." She smiled. When Fate had first vanished, the diminutive hammer knight had been there, not trying to replace her, just supporting Nanoha. The Ace of Aces had taken the blow hard, believing that it had been her fault that Fate had not come back. Even the restoration of her body might not have been enough without Vita's steadfast support. Still, Nanoha had been oblivious until, on her sixteenth birthday, Hayate had thrown a party against her wishes. Four years was enough, the Mistress of the Night Sky had said, to move on.

Hayate had refused to let her friend continue to destroy herself. It was during that party, where alcohol had flowed, that Vita finally told Nanoha everything. Even seeing the redhead in a sixteen-year-old body, standing alone on the balcony, had been enough to shock the Ace into speechlessness. '_I've been waiting for the results of something,_', Vita had said. '_And Shamal gave them to me this morning... the Wolkenritter are changing, slowly. We're becoming more human. Some day, I might even look like this for real. Well. I just wanted to tell you... even when I'm mortal and human. I'll be here for you, Nanoha. I know I can't replace what came before. That's not what I want. But when you're ready._'

It had been a confession... of sorts. Nanoha hadn't been able to answer her then, and even now, things were left unfinished between them. Nanoha had regrets... but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

"She cares a lot, you know?" Shari smiled at her. "I think she sees you as a kind of little sister. It's cute."

"Vita? Heh." Nanoha let out a small, controlled chuckle. She never laughed any more. "She worries too much. So does everyone."

"I'm sure." Shari grimaced at the brush-off. Nanoha sometimes seemed like a very cold person.

"Two days, you said?" Nanoha asked for confirmation

"Yeah, that should be enough to build the interrupter." The tech-genius nodded.

"Sooner started, sooner finished." Nanoha decided, and offered Shari her hand to teleport.

Two days later, in the evening, they stood in Yuuno's workshop.

"Are you sure this will work?" Scryah asked, looking at the machine sceptically.

"You checked my findings, didn't you? It'll work." Shari insisted. "You've got the file?"

"Ah." He nodded. "It's here." He produced the small crystal. "The security recording from eight years ago." He gave it to Shari, who took it gently.

"Nanoha-chan. Are you ready?" She asked, looking at the twenty-year-old colonel.

"I've been ready." She nodded, clenching her fist around Raising Heart's storage form.

"Lets start, then." Shari put the data crystal into the machine and started running the retrieval protocols. "There. Portal activation in five... four... three... two... one." The ring at the centre of the device glowed, before a green Mid-type circle appeared upright, held within it.

"Good luck, Nanoha." Yuuno smiled, before darting in and kissing her on the cheek. "You'll be fine."

"Ah." She nodded back. "Goodbye, Yuuno, Shari." She took one last look at them before turning back to the machine. "Raising Heart."

"Stand by." The jewel responded. "Ready."

"Set up. Exceed mode." Nanoha commanded, and she was shrouded in pink energy as her device activated and granted her barrier jacket. Without looking back, she stepped into the sigil.

What she found on the other side was anything but what she was expecting.

"This is... Uminari?" She murmured, looking around. "No... it's wrong... there's no-one here."

"You are... not supposed to be here." A voice, soft and feminine, spoke. Nanoha looked around, but she couldn't see who was speaking. "But if it is your wish... you may take part."

"Who's there?" Nanoha asked, narrowing her eyes. "Raising Heart..."

"Every thousand years... there is a tournament to find the strongest. To return to your world, you must win... and also... you will be granted a single wish." The voice continued. "But first... in this virtual world created from your memories... I will test your power."

"My power? Who are you? What do you mean, a tournament?" Nanoha demanded, but there was no answer.

"Detection: Gadget Drone type I. Three targets, inbound, my Master." Raising Heart informed her.

"Gadget Drones..?" Nanoha frowned. "A world created from my memories... then... these too?" She lifted Raising Heart. "I see. If she means to test my power, then that would mean a fight. Raising Heart. Accel Shooter."

"All right." Her device responded, and Nanoha took the time to charge the spell manually before firing off three shielded bolts that easily pierced the drones' AMF barriers.

"I remember..." Nanoha frowned as they froze in midair, before vanishing.

_'Phew... My oh my...But, having to suddenly fight after being brought to this strange world... Just what is the person behind that "voice" intending... I hope Fate-chan is alright..' Nanoha, age twelve, wondered. She had been drawn through a dimensional disturbance together with Fate-chan, but now she was alone over an Uminari drawn from her memories. Those machines... she'd heard they were developing something like that, hadn't she? Machines for collecting Lost Logia..._

_A tournament... yes. That voice had said something like that. A tournament to decide the strongest, with the prize... journeying home, and a single wish. But that would mean... only one could return? No! She had to find Fate-chan!_

A familiar power woke Nanoha from her flashback, and she frowned, looking around. That power had been... her own? But weaker... yet, it had definitely been Starlight Breaker. That must mean her younger self was nearby. Perhaps if she could meet her, she would be able to remember more details of her last entrance to this place.

* * *

A/N: If anyone is disappointed in this turn of events, rather than mentioning it in a review, send me a PM about it. I had a thought this morning about a second continuation from the first chapter - a divergence from a divergence, if you will - so if enough people want that... well, I probably won't abandon this story, but I might be able to write them both. Maybe.


	3. Chapter 2: Fusagu no Mahou Shoujo

**Disclaimer:** Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowell Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Magical Girl who stands in the way.**

"Blast." Nanoha scowled as Uminari City dissolved around her. She'd nearly been to the site of the energy discharge when the image shivered and faded into this.. place.

She had no idea where she was, so it had to be someone else's memory. The ground was far below, obscured by clouds, but the air didn't feel thin. Tall, impossibly-shaped mountains rose all around, some of them with buildings and even a windmill on top!

"Oi." A somewhat low, impatient-sounding vice made her turn around. Nanoha frowned slightly as she saw the origin. She thought for a moment that Vita had followed her, but this redhead, while petite, was at least a foot taller and three years older than the hammer knight's normal form.

"Ah. I see..." Nanoha sighed. "A field is forming." She warned the other girl as she felt the barrier go up around them. "I'm sorry, but it appears we will have to fight."

"Chi, that's fine by me." The redhead smirked. "The people who brought me here have some pretty strange magic. It makes my blood pound! But that doesn't mean you can discount the powers of a black sorceress!" The girl raised her hands, calling power. "I, then, the beautiful, courageous and powerful, not to mention kind and generous, Sorceress Lina Inverse shall be your opponent!"

"Takamachi Nanoha." Nanoha introduced herself. '_This girl really likes to hear herself talk,_' she thought to herself, '_but if she's here, she can't be that weak..._'

"Then lets go! Flare Arrow!" Lina skirted back as she cast, hurling three small darts of flame at Nanoha.

"Round shield." Nanoha blocked, and the blasts exploded harmlessly against her defences.

"Flash move." Raising Heart used the ensuing smokescreen to hide their rapid ascent. "Buster set." The first Buster Bit appeared above Nanoha's left shoulder.

"You're stronger than you look." Nanoha admitted. "I guess that just means I don't have to hold back! Divine Buster!" She aimed as the pink focussing rings expanded from her Device, then fired off the attack, striking Lina head-on as it pierced her shield and knocking her tumbling through the air.

"Oh, that was mean..." Lina smirked, stabilising her flight. "Oh Source of all Power..." She started chanting as she flew sideways to avoid an array of Divine Shots, "light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand... Fireball!" She hurled the small sphere at Nanoha, who evaded it. "Break!" Lina smirked as the ball exploded into a raging inferno, enveloping the white-clad mage. "Chi. I guess she wasn't so much after all..."

"Axel Shooter." Raising Heart intoned, and eight small balls of pink energy erupted from the cloud of smoke and flames to bear down on Lina. She dashed aside, but the attack followed her.

"Windy Shield!" She cast, and the orbs exploded harmlessly. "Damnit, how's it possible..?" She cursed, searching the sky for her opponent.

"Well done..." Nanoha's voice came from where she last expected it – exactly where she'd been when the fireball exploded. As the dust cleared, it became obvious that she was unharmed, though her expression had become somewhat neutral. "You actually managed to scratch my armour..."

"What?!" Lina gaped. "No way, that's not possible! Lord of Darkness and the Four Worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the power that you possess!" She chanted, and touched the talismans on her shoulders and other parts of her body, activating them.

"So... you're going to fight seriously..." Nanoha murmured, lifting her hand. Raising Heart... Exceed Mode..." She called, and the Device responded by upgrading her armour and changing forms. "Buster three..."

"Buster Set." Raising Heart confirmed as the remaining four Blaster Bits appeared. "Count nine."

"Darkness beyond twilight... Crimson beyond blood that flows..." Lina chanted, raising her hands as she called on the power and feeling it rise. Orange power gathered in her hands. "That which sleeps outside time... By your name, I pledge myself to darkness..."

"Count five..." Raising Heart allowed as the globe of power started forming above Nanoha and her magic circle, the remnants of the spells already cast combining with the ambient magic of the dream-world and Nanoha's own power.

"Stand with my, let your might become mine..." Lina continued chanting, unable to rush the spell... unsure if she wanted to, revelling in the exultation of the darkness flowing through her. The ball of energy turned red.

"Count two..." Raising Heart agreed.

"Magic: Full power." Nanoha intoned. "Buster scatter." At her command, the four buster bits spread around the battlefield, surrounding the redheaded sorceress.

"And let us crush the fools who stand in our way!" Lina chanted.

"Count zero." Raising Heart finished.

"Dragu..." Lina lifted her hands to raise the ball of power above her head.

"Starlight..." Nanoha chanted, bringing Raising Heart back so that the tip was just behind the massive ball of energy.

"SLAVE!" Lina hurled the orb towards her opponent and it became a narrow, pink beam.

"BREAKER!" Nanoha finished at the exact same moment, swinging Raising Heart like a racket in a tennis serve and batting the massive ball of pink energy towards her opponent.

Thin, focussed pink beam met ragged torrent of pink energy, and the two warred for a moment before the Dragu Slave overcame the Starlight Breaker and lanced towards Nanoha.

"Break Shoot!" Nanoha demanded.

Lina screamed as she was struck from four directions by the four Starlight Breakers fired by Nanoha's blaster bits... none of them were as powerful as the core spell, but each one was still easily enough to tear a human limb from limb in terms of pure energy.

"Protection Plus!" Raising Heart cast rapidly, firing off six cartridges and emptying the clip to put up a barrier.

Nanoha's spells were geared towards subdual, however, and even as Lina became convinced that she was dead, the four beams exploded into massive orbs, the focussed energy expanding across almost the entire field. Lina passed into blessed unconsciousness just as she thought she couldn't possible take any more.

"Round Shield!" Nanoha cast a moment later, as soon as she had the energy, putting her own defence behind her Device's. It still wasn't enough, as the Dragu Slave exploded, shattering both shields and sending her tumbling through the air and into unconsciousness, her field enough at the last to prevent the lethal spell destroying her.

As the smoke cleared, it remained to be seen which combatant would be declared the winner... who would awaken first. Who was the least injured.

*

'_I remember..._' Nanoha floated, watching her past. '_at that time... Fate and I... were dragged to this world. We were torn apart... and fought our battles separately... I fought that blue-armoured archer... Sarara... then... Fate-chan..._' She frowned. '_Then... then..._' As she struggled for the memory, the world returned. She opened her eyes, and righted herself, noting that she was still flying.

"Thankyou... Raising Heart..." She murmured.

"It was not me, my master." Raising Heart told her, and she blinked and frowned at the Device, which simply flashed in return. Turning her gaze outwards, she saw her opponent, still unconscious, and floating. It must have been something to do with the nature of this place.

"So she should be, after taking four Starlight Breakers." Nanoha snorted to herself. "Was she... really trying to kill me?" She mused, not finding the idea as shocking as she might have, once. "I guess it doesn't matter... she showed me I can't mess around. Before I die... I have to find Fate-chan and... and myself, and send them back... somehow." She closed her emotions off, clenching her hand tighter around Raising Heart's haft. As she watched, the beautiful, courageous and powerful sorceress Lina Inverse exploded in a scatter of pink shards, as if she was just an illusion or construct of power.

Gathering her own power, Nanoha rose above the arena and started flying towards her next encounter.


	4. Chapter 3: Mahou Shoujo Kourin

**Disclaimer:** Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowell Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

Written listening to Rain Song, by Cold – available on Last FM.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Demon Cannon Girl Descends**

Vita sighed for the third time, and gave up on trying to work. Standing from her desk, she walked out onto the balcony overlooking the training facility – inactive now. No-one had been out there since Nanoha had left to work on her secret project with Shari four days ago. The weather was oddly fitting, low grey clouds threatening rain in the near future.

Vita knew she should be getting the rookies out there. She should have dragged them out yesterday. With her superior officer on assignment, she was the highest ranked available officer with a training qualification, yet somehow – it all seemed pointless. Half of them were in the hospital, and while Stars Three and Five could use the exercise, it seemed pointless to train with Cloud One – Signum was on top form.

The holographic arena looked rather forlorn without its usual activity. Forest nor city had graced it since Nanoha had gone. Leaning on the railing, Vita wondered where it had all started to go wrong.

The answer was obvious, of course. Eight years ago, Nanoha and Fate had vanished from the rehabilitation centre without warning. Only a year after Nanoha's terrible injuries at the hands of an unknown war machine, before she could barely walk again.

No magic had been able to trace them. As far as Midchildan technology was concerned, they were still in the very room they had vanished from, as though they were simply invisible. Yet no cancellation magic, no dispel, could reveal them if that were the case. A week later, Nanoha had re-appeared, miraculously healed but with no memory of what had happened. After that point, Fate's magical signature had vanished as completely as her body. It was as though the blonde had never existed.

Nanoha had changed after that. Slowly, as time went on and there was no sign of the blonde, she'd withdrawn into herself. The light had gone out of her eyes, leaving a ruthless efficiency that described not Takamachi Nanoha and her device, Raising Heart, but rather the White Devil and her weapon, Raging Heart. A small change in inflection – a minor difference of intonation – that told those close to her that they were losing their friend to the darkness that had consumed the Tome of the Night Sky so many centuries ago.

When Hayate had invited Nanoha to join her unit – Mobile Division Riot Force 6 – her words had been met with a quiet nod and a grunt worthy of Signum. Nanoha knew of Knight Carim's prophesy, had been there when it was first read. Another attempt at reconciliation that had ended in disaster, with Nanoha leaving quietly to gather information that could possible help rather than attending Hayate's ball.

Vita knew, guiltily, that they could have done more. The knights were all well acquainted with that darkness that was taking over their Meister's friend, but Hayate had always been the one to make friends or introduce people. Vita's developing feelings had only compounded that guilt.

Looking up at the grey sky, she remembered how it had been. She had seen the darkness rising in Nanoha, and it had called out to her. That same blessed madness that had consumed the Guardian Knights for centuries was changing Nanoha, corrupting the light of her soul. And yet... to Vita, they weren't bad changes. She was becoming darker, yes, but there was beauty in darkness. As Nanoha changed, she was becoming purer, more assured of her purpose and empowered.

Before... she had been something light, a small flame to be protected and nurtured. That light had saved the Guardian Knights, bringing them back into the realms of light where Meister Hayate had only given them shadow, the need to save her driving them back into the darkness.

Now... Nanoha had become something dark, and pure, and beautiful. Strong. Someone to protect them, rather than be protected. It was almost as though she had become Wolkenritter herself.

Piece by piece, shadow by shadow, Vita had realised that Takamachi Nanoha was someone her old woman's soul could love. An darkness that echoed her own. And so, she had stood by and watched, knowing that it could never be, but unable to force herself to abandon the idea of loving Nanoha. When Shamal had told her a week before Nanoha's sixteenth birthday what was happening to them, she had realised that she was losing her chance. They were becoming human... it was wonderful. They would grow old, and die. Hayate had been horrified by the idea – she hadn't, couldn't understand. Somehow, Vita knew that Nanoha wouldn't be like that. The Knights were dark now so that Hayate could stay in the light, grimly accepting their duty even as they resisted their Meister's beguiling influence.

But Nanoha was slipping into the darkness – too far into it. She was becoming soulless. How had she not noticed it? Vita had watched Nanoha so carefully. She knew her better than perhaps anyone else by that point, even the ferret, obsessed with his library and his work as he was, and yet even she hadn't noticed until it was almost too late.

Vita hardly noticed as the threatened rain started to fall. Absently, Graf Eisen deployed her Knight Armour to keep her uniform dry, but she doffed her hat herself, wanting to feel the water soak her hair.

Even Yuuno had been surprised when Vita stomped into his library, Hayate in tow, on March 24th and demanded they help her plan a surprise birthday party for the Air Combat Instructor. They hadn't celebrated it since before she was shot down – she had still been in a coma for her twelfth birthday, and her thirteenth had lain during the time of her disappearance. She had quietly refused to even recognise the day after that.

That had almost been a disaster, Vita smiled as she remembered. If Shamal and Yuuno hadn't been there and realised what was happening, the White Devil might have killed them before she even knew who they were. They'd learned their lesson that day – don't jump out at Takamachi. Vita had been pleasantly surprised a week later when she'd discovered that it applied to the rest of her family, too. Miyuki was _scary_ when you startled her.

The turning point, unarguably, had been that night and Vita's confession. Hayate's impassioned speech had only driven Nanoha further away, as the knights had feared it might, but first Signum's quiet support, and then Vita's half-drunk words on the balcony, wearing the transformation spell, had finally broken through her shell. Though she knew Nanoha felt differently, Vita had gotten the response she wanted that night. Nanoha had stopped her downward spiral, making an effort to reconnect with the people who cared about her. She couldn't let go of Fate, but somehow... it was enough.

And so Nanoha grew no darker, but nor did she return to the light. When the JS Incident started up, she threw herself back into the grinder, teaching the rookies as best she knew how – pushing them perhaps harder than she should have, but never so hard that they risked burning themselves out in training. She had supervised their missions personally, unless she had joined them for the mission itself. It was almost as though she believed that if only she kept a close enough watch, she could prevent her students, too, vanishing into nothingness as Fate had.

"Crying Soul, Web Shield." The soft voice woke Vita from her rain-soaked reverie.

"Gwetarianau." The mechanical lilt of the girl's Device replied, spinning a spider's web of green power above the balcony, shielding it from the rain.

"You should not be standing in the rain, Vita-san." The girl told her, coming to stand next to her against the railing.

"I didn't ask you to get involved, Pai'na." She growled, glancing up at the rookie mid-type Mage. Pai'na was wearing her ground forces uniform, though her Device was active – a silver bracer with a green gem on the back of her wrist. The sixteen-year-old adjusted her glasses, before pushing a strand of her long, black hair behind her ear, taking in the same view Vita had been staring at.

"No," Pai'na didn't look at her, "but I felt your loneliness. It's not good to force yourself to be alone, Vita-san. Trust me, I know..." She trailed off, and Vita remembered that even though she was the inheritor of an ancient Betelgeusean legacy, Pai'na had grown up in the custody of uncaring tutors and bodyguards.

"Pfeh. It's nothing like that." Vita told her, gruffly. "I'm just worried. You know what Shari's machines are like."

"It's been... two days since she activated the device." Pai'na agreed. "It... should not be taking this long. I am worried." Nanoha had been the one to teach Pai'na to utilise her device, Crying Soul, without burning out the linker cores of those she drained. In her way, she cared as much for her instructor as Subaru or Vita.

"She'll be back." Vita insisted. "But Hayate's said... if she's not back by tomorrow evening, we're launching anyway."

"We're going after Scaglietti's base?" The spider-mage asked, blinking down at her superior.

"Ah. We can't wait any longer than that... Inspector Verossa says he's got something big planned, some super-weapon that'll destroy the Bureau." Vita told her. It was meant to be classified, but she never saw the point of pulling the wool over trustworthy eyes.

"I know..." Pai'na surprised her by saying. "He asked my help... his Hounds can travel far, but there are some gaps only my spiders can fit through. It is called the Cradle."

"Heh. Even with your partner in hospital, you still can't stop learning, can you, Arachne." Vita snorted. "Give it a rest. You'll burn yourself out at this rate."

"Please don't use my last name, Vita-san." Was the only reply. "Teana and I are going to train with Signum. Will you join us?"

"Ah. Just let me get my hat." Vita nodded, turning away from the vista and heading back inside. She paused on the threshold. "Thanks, kid."

*

Nanoha grimaced as the world dissolved around her again. That Kukuri girl had been more of a challenge than she'd expected from someone constantly crying out for their 'Hero-sama'.

"Here again..?" She murmured as she looked down once more on the streets of Uminari City. "Then that means... my opponent must be..." She felt the familiar magic, and looked up towards the white, fluffy clouds. Squinting, she enhanced the image magically.

There. Takamachi Nanoha, age twelve, descended from the clouds like an angel, arms held innocently above her as she drifted towards their battlefield with her eyes closed....


	5. Chapter 4: Sakai, moshite atakai?

Disclaimer: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowell Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

* * *

Nanoha watched as the girl that was the younger her descended from the sky, and gripped the haft of her Device more tightly. If they were together, they would have to fight. She didn't waste any time, boosting up there with a determined look on her face.

"Takamachi Nanoha. Age eleven." She said, not smiling as she looked at the younger girl, who turned and blinked at her.

"Y-yes..? You know me?" The younger Nanoha frowned.

"I remember you." The older nodded. "Somehow. Even though we never really met."

"Then, please... if we aren't enemies, will you help me find Fate-chan?" The younger Nanoha asked, looking hopeful. The older Nanoha grimaced, tightening her grip again.

"No. You know as well as I do... that's not how this place works." She told her, starting to raise her weapon. "I remember..."

*

_She remembered. She had found Fate-chan.._

"_Thanks goodness, you're safe." Fate, twelve, smiled as she approached._

"_And you..." Nanoha returned, nodding. "But..." She frowned, looking around. "Another field is forming..."_

"_We're going to have to fight." Fate nodded._

"_But... after we just met up again.. that's not..." Nanoha pouted._

"_If we don't... we won't be able to return home, Nanoha." Fate's smile faded. "We have no choice."_

"_Uwah... your eyes look so serious, Fate-chan." Nanoha stepped back, a useless action since they were both flying, but the thought was there._

"_Before... it was as enemies... but this time, as friends... a true battle, without holding back." Fate smiled again, though she didn't lose any of her hawk-like focus. "Lets go, Nanoha!" Fate challenged, finally, before dashing forwards with Sonic Move._

*

"I fought Fate... last time." Nanoha told her younger self. "And after that..."

"You fought Fate-chan? You know where she is?" The younger Takamachi asked, eagerly. "Is she safe?"

"No, not at all... Nanoha." The elder shook her head. "Last time... but this isn't last time. For your own sake... and mine. I, Takamachi Nanoha, will defeat you. Raging Heart, load cartridge."

"W-what?!" Nanoha, age eleven, flinched back. "Who are you? Raising Heart, please!" She called out to her Device, forming a shield.

"When you fought Fate-chan..." Nanoha looked at herself with cold, dark eyes. "You lost... you won't get to meet Fate-chan this time. Divine Buster."

"I lost? What are you talking about? I haven't met Fate-chan yet!" Nanoha yelled back, forming her own spell.

"Divine Buster." Both Intelligent Devices intoned at the same time, both mages feeding power to their spells... and the younger's being blown away by the older, forcing her to evade.

*

"_Plasma Lancer." Bardiche intoned, as Fate fired off a series of yellow thunderbolts at her best friend. They had been fighting for ten minutes already, and both were exhausted._

"_Fate-chan, please, we have to work together somehow..." Nanoha insisted, even as she dodged up and then dashed forwards to strike at Bardiche with Strike Flame. "To break this field."_

"_I tried... with a mage called Sakura, I tried to break the field. Everything we had... Zeus Zanber, and the Void Card... nothing could break it." Fate told her. "Our magic here... it isn't real. It looks real, does what it should inside the field... but it's just training lasers. Jet Zanber." She called up the magic, and Nanoha was too surprised by what her partner was saying to evade it. She tried to block, and..._

*

"Who..?" Nanoha asked, staring at her opponent as she realised she was defeated. "Why are you..?"

"To lose... is to return." The elder told her. "Go home to your world, and be happy. I will send Fate shortly... my young soul. Accel Shooter." Nanoha brought her Raging Heart down, charging the globe at its tip. "Fire." She sent the orb at her younger self, striking the bound and exhausted mage-child head-on and banishing her from the field.

Nanoha was a little surprised when the field didn't fade. So far, while she'd fought in the faux-Uminari and that mountain-cloud place twice, she'd never fought two battles in the same locale consecutively. She could only guess that whatever was coming was as strongly linked to this field as she was. When the sky darkened to night, she frowned. Most of her battles had taken place here at night, but... did that mean it was another childhood rival? Or...

Fate-chan. It had to be. She looked around, and searched magically, and finally located it, a flare of yellow power heading towards her. Fate decelerated rapidly, coming to a stop ten feet away, and Nanoha turned to look her in the eye.

"I... know you." Fate narrowed her worried, crimson eyes at her. "Who are you?"

"You know me... so much. But you don't..." Nanoha found her voice cracking, unable to meet Fate's gaze. "You're exactly... as I remembered..."

"What do you mean?" Fate-chan asked in her low voice. "You remember me?"

"From so long ago..." Nanoha swallowed. "My Fate-chan. Seven years ago..."

"Seven years..?" Fate blinked. "That was... before I was..."

"No... for me. You... this is it. Raging Heart..." Nanoha held her staff out crosswise.

"Yes, my master." Raging Heart responded. "Accel Shooter set."

"Raging... Accel..?" Fate-chan frowned. "Nanoha?"

"Yes... and your Nanoha... has been dealt with." Nanoha nodded. "Now, please... surrender and allow me to return you to her."

"What did you do?" Fate asked, alarmed, bringing her weapon around. "Bardiche."

"Yes, sir." The pole-arm responded, gem flashing.

"Sent her home. You fought me... in my time line. You won, and defeated me... I was sent home." Nanoha aimed at her. "You... never returned. So..."

"You think... by defeating me, I will return..." Fate frowned. "And then... what happens to you... Nanoha?"

"I don't know. It doesn't matter... but you... with Nanoha... will go on. As it was meant to be." Nanoha tightened her grip. "Accel Shooter." She fired off a barrage of tracking bolts.

Fate conjured a Round Shield, recognising that she couldn't avoid the attack, but had to catch the last two bolts on her field as they shattered the barrier. "Plasma Lancer." Bardiche responded, conjuring eight rings and firing off eight spears of lightning back, which Nanoha boosted above, even as she charged Divine Buster and returned fire.

Fate boosted sideways, silently commanding a costume switch. She hadn't been this over matched since the Book of Darkness incident, she realised, and she'd have to use every trick in her book to beat this future Nanoha, if she even could...

"Barrier Jacket: Sonic Form." Bardiche acknowledged, firing a cartridge and ejecting the outer layer of armour, adding the sonic fins to boost his master's speed. "Haken Mode." She dashed towards Nanoha, remembering her one-time friend's preference for long range attacks and relative weakness in melee. She didn't reckon on this older, bitterer Nanoha's diversification.

"Rapid Interdiction Occluded Targeting." Raging Heart responded to the dashing attack, changing form in the blink of an eye to become a spear, tipped with an energy blade which blocked the blonde's scythe attack.

"Spark Burst." Nanoha intoned, and Raging Heart's gem flashed, and a turbulent blast of pink energy threw Fate away. "Strike Flame." Nanoha brought the spear around, before charging the energy blade and hurling herself at her target.

"Defencer." Bardiche intoned, catching the spear on its auto defence. Raging Heart fired a cartridge, and the blade started to slip through the barrier.

"Reinforcement.." Fate grimaced, pushing back and firing off a cartridge of her own – she knew that she couldn't beat Raging Heart's larger magazine in a straight Cartridge contest. The barrier firmed up again, pushing the crackling blade back out. "Plasma snap." She let go of Bardiche with one hand to snap her fingers in a crossways motion, casting as tiny spell she'd created on the fly. A small burst of yellow power appeared outside her barrier, leaping towards the ejection port on the side of Raging Heart's head. She hoped to fuse it shut, preventing Nanoha from firing more cartridges until the Device's repair spells cleared the jam. Her plan worked, Nanoha unable to get up a barrier in time to block the short-range attack, and a moment later she was forced to pull away.

"Very clever...." She grimaced, retreating temporarily. "But... I don't need the cartridge system to defeat you. Struggle Bind.." She gestured, catching Fate off-guard and binding her, cruciform. "Divine Buster..." She brought her weapon around, charging the attack at the tip of her spear.

"Clearance confirmed. A firing lock has been released." Raging Heart replied, and Fate swallowed. A firing lock on Divine Buster..? The only other firing lock she'd ever heard of was attached to the Arc-en-ciel.

"All right. Full power: Divine..." Nanoha growled, eyes becoming emotionally dead as she channelled her power completely.

"Bardiche!" Fate called, against her rising panic.

"Sonic Move." Bardiche responded, as she turned and fled to the far side of the field, where she began jinking erratically.

"Buster." Raging Heart completed, and the pink beam lanced out, catching Fate neatly even as she attempted to evade, pinning her against the barrier at the edge of the field as it pounded her with power. Fate screamed, and blacked out before shattering in the same way as all of Nanoha's other opponents.

"I'm sorry... Fate-chan. It had to be this way." Nanoha murmured, closing her eyes and bringing Raging Heart up to a rest position.


	6. Chapter 5: Chuushin

Disclaimer: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is property of Ivory and Seven Arcs. Nowel Diastasis and Magical Battle Arena was created and published by FLY-System. They are used here without permission and without intention to profit.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Straight Feelings**

The field changed, Uminari's nighttime sky fading away to reveal a city park, complete with trees, a lake, and yellow-gravel parks. It was almost idyllic, like something out of an erogei – a perfect backdrop for a romantic walk or a hurt and comfort scene. For the first time since coming to this world, Nanoha felt solid ground beneath her feet. The world populated, suddenly, with normal-seeming people moving through the park, oblivious to the white-clad mage in their midst. There was something... off... about them, though. Their movements were a little too stiff, and the low hubbub of chatting voices contained no words.

Movement behind a trio of housewives caught Nanoha's attention as a pretty, pink-clad girl stepped out from behind them.

"So you're my enemy?" The armoured teenager asked with a frown, holding her hand out to the side to summon a black-bladed sword, like a tear in reality. "I don't know who you are, but until I find Sara-chan, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut my way through you."

"Then you are... Kirara Hoshizora." Nanoha murmured, holding Raising Heart loosely with the tip pointed down. "I'm afraid... your sister has already left this place. Please lay down your weapon and allow me to return you to your world."

"Eeh? What's that meant to mean?" Kirara asked, lowering her blade a little. "The voice said that to go home, we had to win..."

"The voice lied." Nanoha told her, quietly, her voice revealing the anger that had built during her pointless fights with her younger self and Fate-chan. "Once, a girl was torn from her home to this world... she was young, and innocent, and was forced to fight her friend... That girl lost, unable to do what she must, and was banished from this place... her friend, who must have won this tournament... never returned."

"That's not true!" Kirara retorted. "How would you know something like that?"

"Because... seven years ago, that girl was me." Nanoha told her, darkly. "So... please surrender, Kirara Hoshizora." She lifted her empty hand, a single finger extended, and began charging Accel Shooter.

"I see..." Kirara frowned, lowering her sword again. "Then... you also fought Sara-chan..?"

"Ah." Nanoha nodded. "She was strong. She fought... but she failed."

"Then... do it. Even if she died... then life without Sara-chan... isn't something I can comprehend." Kirara dispelled her meteor blade and lifted her chin.

"Accel Shot." Nanoha intoned, launching a concentrated ball of power that corkscrewed through the air to strike Kirara in the throat. The pink-armoured swordswoman cried out, flung back, then stopped and hung in midair, frozen in place.

"What... have you done..?" A soft, female voice asked. It took Nanoha a moment, but then she remembered – it was the voice of the one who ruled this place. "How have you unravelled this place..?"

"So you reveal yourself..." Nanoha murmured, looking around cautiously for the speaker, but the woman had not manifested. "Why don't you tell me... what is the real reason for this 'tournament'?"

"To select Telos..." The voice replied, and the false park and people faded to leave the two warriors hanging in a star field stretching on into eternity. "But you are too old... to become it..."

"Too old? What is 'Telos'?" Nanoha asked, tightening her grip on Raging Heart.

"Telos... the one whose power is guided by the system, Kyrios... and who chooses the next to become Telos." As the voice spoke, it released Kirara, who flexed her limbs to make sure she had full control and looked around, moving to hover beside Nanoha, covering her back. "Kyrios... is a system by which the balance of magical power across the worlds is maintained. And to watch over Kyrios... an artificial human..." The speaker faded into view at last. She looked about fifteen, with sad eyes and light, grey-blue hair. She wore a black bodysuit that came down to mid-thigh and half way to her elbows with a high collar. Over that, a blue half-skirt that hung to her knees, and around her head a broken tiara holding a red gemstone. In her hand was a staff with a fan-like energy blade at the head end. "That is... this Nowel Diastasis."

"Nowel?" Nanoha asked, lifting her weapon. "And what is it that... Telos must do?"

"Telos... simply must sleep eternally within Kyrios until her body rots to nothing over a thousand years. Telos must have immense magical power, and yet... those too strong-willed or developed will instinctively fight Kyrios, and so Telos must be young and... to an extent, she must be innocent... and so... Kirara Hoshizora... you are the one Telos has chosen..."

"What? No way!" Kirara retorted strongly. "I have to go home! Everyone is waiting for me, praying."

"If there is no Telos... Kyrios will not function... and the multiverse will become unbalanced... the worlds will be destroyed as magic overflows..." Nowel told her, sadly, even as she raised her staff. "If you cannot accept that... then I must subdue you with force... please stand aside, mage in white."

"No." Nanoha replied, softly, stepping in front of Kirara and taking Raging Heart into both hands. "You are... so foolish..." She murmured, almost sadly. "You took Fate-chan from me for such a reason... When in all this time... if you had reached out... surely, everyone could have found another way."

"Kyrios is the way... created by my masters so long ago... there can be no other..." Nowel shook her head. "You cannot stand against me, with the power of Kyrios. Gravity..."

"Accel Shot." Raging Heart fired before Nowel could complete her spell, six orbs of pink energy flashing across the space between the two mages in an instant. Nowel's eyes widened, caught mid-casting as she was there was no way she could block the attack.

The orbs exploded in a smoke cloud only a metre in front of her as a red barrier appeared, followed by a twelve year old with red hair and white-and-red robes. She wore a drill on her right hand like a gauntlet, while her left was extended to form the barrier.

"Idiot! Nowel works so hard and you just want her to throw it all away? Ruru won't allow it!" The redhead declared. "Ruru will stop you!" She declared, releasing the barrier and boosting towards Nanoha without further warning, drill spinning into a fury.

Nanoha threw herself back and down, knocking Kirara aside as she avoided the attack, then firing Accel Shot at the redhead's back. Her attack exploded against whatever armour Ruru was wearing as the drill-user span and started casting, summoning a swarm of drill-bits around herself.

"Drill Missile, Full Fire!" Ruru declared, and the small rockets fired, launching the swarm at Nanoha and Kirara.

"Meteor orbit!" Kirara declared, dashing forward and calling her sword. She seemed to vanish as she accelerated, darting among the rocket swarm and destroying each projectile with a single strike from her sword.

"This is... a problem..." Nowel murmured. With a concentration of power, she drew on Kyrios' abilities to summon some drones to keep her opponents busy while she charged her spells.

"The problem is... the way you stole Fate-chan from me..." Nanoha replied, darkly, slashing Raging Heart through the air.

"_Variable Buster Barrage_" The device intoned, hurling a hundred shielded orbs of power at the swarm of drones, shattering their AMF and smashing their chassis.

"... Without even looking for another path..." She finished speaking, hurling herself forward into close range. Nowel knocked her spear strike away with a sweep of her fan-bladed staff, before completing the spin to bring it up under her left arm. Nanoha blocked with a handheld shield, before bringing her knee up into the artificial mage's stomach, doubling her over.

"There is no other path." Nowel coughed, teleporting back. "Beyond Kyrios' power, drawn from Telos... even I, who was created this way... couldn't bear the pain... That is why... Ruru..."

"Stand still so Ruru can hit you!" The drill-user demanded, thrusting at Kirara repeatedly with her drill. "Become Telos so you can leave Nowel and Ruru alone!"

"Why do you believe in Telos? Even if it's for a sister, forcing such a destiny on someone can't be right!" Kirara retorted, weaving sideward and bringing her black Meteor Blade around to deflect the attack. "Nova Impact!" She cried, hurling a point-blank orb of pink energy at Ruru.

"Nowel was going mad, alone here... that's why she created me, from the bones of Telos." Ruru replied, lunging again. "Drill Storm Combo!" She cried, speeding up and blowing through Kirara's defences to land three powerful hits against her armour. "Drill Missile!"

"Anti-nova Buffer!" Kirara countered, absorbing the missiles and gathering their power into her hand, before hurling it back.

"Drillcopter!" Ruru rebounded the counter, catching the orb on the tip of her drill and spinning it into a spiral pattern, before daring forward and pushing into Kira's stomach with her weapon. The younger magical girl's armour held – barely - but the blow left her winded and falling back.

"S-Sara-chan..." Kira swallowed. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, praying that her thoughts would reach her twin. Her energy was almost exhausted, Dunamiscale Duo barely holding its manifestation.

"What for..?" The voice warmed her as she felt a familiar pair of arms wrapping around her shoulders. "I'm here... remember... we never have to fight alone." Her sister's voice murmured in her ear, and she felt power returning as Sarara faded in from the starscape around them.

"You're here..?" Kirara asked, swallowing. "But... that Nanoha..."

"Defeated me." Sara nodded. "But I think... we stay in the system, until the tournament is over. Is that girl... our true enemy?"

"No." Kira shook her head, pulling free but holding her twin's hand. "But she is... a part of it."

"Then we have no choice." Sara smiled, sadly. "We'll just have to show her... with the strength of our magic..."

"Right." Kirara nodded, releasing her sister's hand to pound her fist into her palm. "Ruru! Sacrificing someone just isn't right! There's another way! We just have to find it!"

"If it was wrong, then Nowel wouldn't want it!" Ruru replied, hotly. "Against one, or two, it doesn't matter! This Ruru will destroy everyone who can't become Telos!" She declared, raising her weapon. "Drill Flare Bomb!"

"That girl's ally has appeared... won't you surrender, Nowel-san?" Nanoha asked, countering her opponent's singularity-type Gravity Bind with a creation-type spell.

"If only I could... but there is no other way..." Nowel responded. "That suffering... your eyes show me what I know. You know that I speak the truth... to come here, you killed yourself... your friend... you broke a heart, and left what you could not face behind..."

"No..." Nanoha clenched her weapon tighter. "With Raging Heart... and the brave souls here... I know, now. When you stole Fate from me, you destroyed everything... the future of my world. My own strength failed... Hayate-chan and the others tried to show me, but... only now... can I understand." She looked up, meeting Nowel's eyes directly. "There is no power in solitude... no strength in pain. You have Kyrios... even if I put all of my power against it, alone... there would be no hope, would there?"

"None." Nowel shook her head. "Against the magical tuning power of Kyrios, no mage can stand, and I am but an extension of Kyrios..." She trailed off, her voice dropping. "Nothing but a puppet of that throne..."

"Nowel Diastasis-san... even the life of a puppet... has its own strength." Nanoha said, raising her weapon. "The girl called Fate... who you stole... The one who was to become Telos, if I had not interfered... was an unnaturally strong mage... an Artificial Mage..."

"What..?" Nowel looked at her, dropping her guard slightly. "That's... impossible..."

"No." Nanoha shook her head. "Fate-chan... was named for the science that created her... Project F. So, you see... the life of even an artificial product... is more than it sounds. More than just a product. Fate-chan... had thoughts. Dreams. Feelings. She was my dear friend. When you took her... I was left with nothing. You have... that Ruru... a puppet you created yourself... the puppet of a puppet... and yet, she fights with passion to protect the person most precious to her..."

"Is... choice... really something that's possible..?" Nowel asked. "Even if I have free will... Kyrios must be fed... or the worlds will collapse..."

"Perhaps that was true... thousands of years ago. But now, with the Bureau... and all of these powerful mages..." Nanoha murmured, flying closer. "You don't have to rely on... just your Master's power any longer."

"To believe..." Nowel whispered, lowering her weapon completely. "Yes... while it's true that the ancient ones who created the Kyrios System and I may not have believed in... anything other than their own power... I don't want to live such a lonely existence anymore..." She closed her eyes. "Ruru!" She called, and the redhead dashed to her side, spinning to face Nanoha, protective of her blue-haired creator. "We will surrender." Nowel said, making Ruru gape at her for a moment.

"But... Kyrios... you said... the sacrifice..?" Ruru asked, uncertain.

"Will last... a few more weeks." Nowel told her. "We have... time to explore other options."

"As you wish." Ruru nodded, then smiled. "We don't have to fight any more, then?"

"No..." Nowel smiled, and Ruru hugged her. The blue-haired mage looked startled for a moment, before returning the hug, leaving her staff hovering in the air beside her. The twins flew over to flank Nanoha, looking faintly confused.

"You won?" Kirara asked, quietly.

"I won." Nanoha nodded. "Nowel-san!" She called, waiting for the other two mages to look at her. Then she smiled. It was a ghost of her old, cheerful smile, but still, a smile none the less. "Would you... like to be friends?"

"I... like the sound of that..." Nowel nodded, managing a small smile back. Ruru grinned, beside her.

"Of course! Without Nanoha, Ruru and Nowel would be lonely again. That's why Ruru wanted to become Nowel's puppet... so she would never be alone again." The drill-user replied, happily. Behind them, the brass and gold machine that was Kyrios unfolded in the starscape, and Nowel turned to look at it. A small hatch on one side swung open. Inside was visible the last few whisps of an armour not so unlike Ruru's.

"Administration access... Nowel Diastasis... Pass code: GeladeR. Unlock test mode. Return to normal operation." Nowel whispered, and the door slammed shut, wheel-lock screwing shut again. The device itself stretched several miles either side of the group, making it hurt the eyes to attempt to see either end of the massive structure.

"Before we can do that, though..." Nanoha admitted, remembering the reason she had given to undertake this in the first place, "We have a few wrinkles to iron out..." She admitted, activating the device sewn into the shoulder of her barrier jacket, and calling up a projection of events in her home world. The Cradle was rising behind a flurry of aerial combat, right over the abandoned areas of Crannagan.


End file.
